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Disappointing Cruise by
James S. from Houston, TX Sailing date: Jul 2012Pros: The overall newness of the ship and its staterooms Cons: The Captain of the ship deciding that we would not dock in Roatan Overall the ship itself was ok. The water slides and ropes course were about all there was to do although there were always lines to contend with. Ship QualityNot sure who thought it would be a good idea to have slick tile in the buffet area which is surrounded on both ends by pools. We witnessed an elderly lady slip and fall due to the slippery wet tile, and she was unable to get up. Public areas were clean and decor was ok. Dining/FoodThe food on this cruise was horrible. Things were overcooked most of the time, particularly potatoes at all meals of the day. Cheeseburgers cooked at the grill area had meat charred to a crisp on one side of the patty. The fruit was horrible....Watermelon and bananas were overripe, and both cantelope and honeydew melons were green. There also always seemed to be long lines at all buffet lines/areas. Stateroom QualityThe stateroom was ok, but nothing to write home about. The selection of tv stations was worthless. These cruise ships need better channels and at least the weather channel. One complaint about the room was that it was small and cramped, and on this ship, you have to keep your sign and sail card in a slot in the room so that the lights will work. I truly disliked this. Ship Staff QualityOutside of the room stewards and dining room waitstaff, I was not satisfied with the ship's staff. The lady at the guest relations desk on this ship was horrible. She didn't care one bit about my concern, and from what I can tell, didn't care if I sailed with Carnival again. Entertainment & Activities
Children's ProgramsSame old same old Camp Carnival activities. Someone needs to dream up some new things for the kids to do. My daughter was bored at Camp Carnival on this boat.  5 out of 13 people found this review helpful.
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  Less than by
Donna H from Dallas, Texas Sailing date: Jan 2012Pros: Disembarking Cons: Food, staff, long lines, embarking process Carnival needs to take lessons from Norwegian Cruise Lines. This was a sub-standard cruise. Even though the ship was new, the food was marginal at best, the staff was not friendly, there were long lines every where, slow service, and even though we chose "dine at your time" we had to wait up to an hour to get into the dining room more than one time and ususally at least 30 minutes. Ship QualityShip layout is good and easy to get around, Dining/FoodFood was not good at all. On NCL they knew my food allergies and made sure I never ordered anything that I was allergic to. On Carnival, I tried to let the Matre d know but he said I would have to ask my waiter every meal. When I did ask, the waiter did not know. Stateroom QualityStateroom was nice, staff-Oscar and Newman were awesome!! Ship Staff QualityThe staff other than the cabin stewards were not helpful at all and not friendly. There was not "above and beyond service." Entertainment & ActivitiesEntertainment was OK but not enough room for all guest to attend, The rooms were small so only a few could go and this is not good on a ship that has 3500 guest. The lines were long and several times after standing in line for over 45 minutes, you still could not get in. Children's ProgramsThere were children in the "Serenity-Adult only area" 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Disappointing cruise experience by
Charles R from Austin, TX Sailing date: Feb 2012Pros: Departing from Galveston - within easy driving distance Cons: Tiny cabin, long lines, few interesting activities The ship was huge and this was the primary problem. They put in lots of extra (very small) cabins, but didn't increase the "commons" areas proportionately. Long lines. Dining "your time" was a disaster on several occasions (lines again - even a pager to summon us). Limited room service menu. Room service not delivered on one occasion Ship QualityShip was clean and well decorated Dining/FoodFood was good overall - The "your time" dining was generally not acceptable - long lines on occasion - had to stand in line for over 30 minutes just to get pager so that we could wait another 30 minutes - will never do this again Stateroom QualityTiny! Even with balcony we felt very cramped. Not even a chair in room
Very clean - stewart did good job in keeping cabin clean and neat Ship Staff QualityStaff very friendly and generally helpful - sometimes too helpful. My wife uses a cane and felt rushed by staff who wanted to "grab" her tray and get her to a table rather than allowing her to look over selections Entertainment & ActivitiesNot much variety
"Talent" not very talented 3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
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What A Disaster by
Jason C from Brownwood, TX Sailing date: Nov 2011Pros: The service in the dining room Cons: The fact that Carnival knew they had a mechanical problem that required skipping the port call to Costa Maya and going to Progresso for two days and not informing guests prior to the ship debarking from Galveston. I have sailed on Carnival six times and this by far was the worst one I have been on. Before sailing from Galveston, TX Carnival knew of an issue with one of the water jets under the ship that had attempted to be repaired in the Bahamas for two days and in Galveston, TX for two days as well. After debarking, they notified the passengers that the port call to Costa Maya had been cancelled and that the ship would be docked in Progresso, MX for two days while they attempted to repair the issue again. In a vain attempt to make up for this Carnival credited all guests $25 to their sign and sail account which was pathetic at best. Also the ship due to the issue was extremely rough and was not at all relaxing in any way. There were so many passenger on board that the line at the mongolian grill took 45 minutes to go through due to not having enough crew to cook the food. It also seemed that when the crew got tired of serving passengers that they closed the buffet lines and told people standing in line the buffet was closed. This happened at various times each day and was very aggrivating. Also, the pizza station never had pizza ready and the deli had one crew member that was too busy talking to the other crew member assisting him to take your order. Also Carnival stopped most of the special events that we have become acustom to over the years and there wern't any special parties or events that you would think they would have being an inagural cruise. Also the crew was not trained prior to sailing and they were being trained during the whole cruise. Dining at night was slow some evenings and fast others due to this. In the rooms they have the emergency pull alarms like in hospitals in case of an emergency. The alarms were malfunctioning throughout the whole cruise and when I told the emergency operator what was going on they would not assist me in any way to fix the issue. The only thing they said was tell your cabin steward and then would hang up. Also I used the internet cafe' and chose to do pay as you go at $.75 per minute. I found out that even after logging out and verifying that I logged out it after being on for no more than 10 - 15 minutes, I was charged over $40 the first time and over $130 the second time. They did fix the issue but I will never use the internet cafe' on board ship ever again due to this. I'll tell you one thing, I don't know if I will book with Carnival in the future after this experience, STAY AWAY FROM THE MAGIC! Ship Quality
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10 out of 13 people found this review helpful.
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Good Cruise by
Paul H from Dallas, TX Sailing date: Feb 2013Pros: 3 days at sea, clean beautiful ship, room stewards very good. Cons: Lido breakfast not enough choices. Standing in line for bacon. Would be better if wafflles, etc. at buffet. Also, dining room breakfast only on port days. Enjoyable cruise and staff was friendly and efficient. Entertainment was good. Some of the comedy was so-so. Ship Quality
Dining/FoodFood was okay and very good at times. Stateroom Quality
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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A Seniors Cruise by
A Traveler from East Texas, USA Sailing date: Nov 2012Pros: Our balcony with the picturesque views of the water sending a peaceful, restful and relaxing time. Cons: The slot machines in the casino...definitely one arm bandits!! The Carnival Magic is a relatively new ship! It has everything you could want and more on a large ship (and it is). If you have ever cruised before then this is the ship you want to go on next time. It has basically everything for all/any age group! The bars, restaurants, entertainment, activities were very good and enjoyable. Because of the size and number of people, being a senior.....my opinion, it has more appeal to the younger generations below 55. Beautiful ship, excellent crew and staff, I give them high marks. Dining/FoodGood, suit your own taste. Stateroom QualityVery good Ship Staff QualityThe most courteous and friendly staff!! Entertainment & ActivitiesGood............ 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Fun but long time at sea by
A Traveler from San Antonio, TX Sailing date: Sep 2012Pros: The pools and the stops Cons: Three days at sea Fun trip, but three days at sea is a bit much if its only you and your spouse, with a group it would be better. All the little extras add up fast on your bill, so be careful. The off shore excursion are not worth what carnival charges you, you can get the same excursion they offer cheaper off the boat at the port. Also the drinks on the ship get expensive, so your bar bill adds up fast too. Ship QualityLarge ship, so you wont notice all the people on board, except all the kids running everywhere. Be aware they run people over and up and down the hall ways. Dining/FoodThe food is kinda elegant and fancy, nothing simple for picky eaters. Stateroom QualityBalcony room was great, nice sized and comfortable to be in. Ship Staff QualityThe housekeeping staff was great, they new our names by day 2 and was very friendly to talk to. The dinning room staff was nice but were either slow or not enough staff to cover the amount of people dinning. Entertainment & ActivitiesGreat shows almost every night and had a few activities during the day, but a lot of down time 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Kids! The most they had ever had. by
A Traveler from East, TX Sailing date: Jun 2012Pros: Staff was excellent. Cons: Main dining room food was mediocre. Overall we had a good time, the shows were entertaining, the ship layout was easy and the pub was great. From what I remember the kid population was over 1200 and it was evident. Not Carnivals fault and I'm not decreasing their score because of it, just be aware that this ship is kid friendly and may be kid overrun. We hid at the pub and the Serenity desk most of the time. Walking down the halls, around elevators, Lido deck, etc. I was almost run into 80% of the time, I learned to take the exterior deck on level 5 to get around while avoiding the crowds. I did not and still do not regret anything though. Ship QualityClean and large, I really liked the exterior walkway on deck 5. Dining/FoodMain dining room food was so/so, they messed up a few meals (Waiter: "How would you like your steak prepared?" Me: "Does it seriously matter? It's gonna be well done," and my wife found a hair in one. On the other hand the Tandor Indian cuisine at the aft Lido deck was great, we started getting plates there and taking them down to the Red Frog Pub to eat. Stateroom QualityClean, bed was fine, shower was hot and closets were large. If you are on the 6th floor forward part of ship you will be listening to the show till 11 or so, we stayed up late so it wasn't an issue. Ship Staff QualityI really thought the staff (aside from the cooks) was on top of it. People were calling me by name and the guys at the pub were super nice. Entertainment & ActivitiesMagic act was so so, juggler was great, comedy was good to great. 11 out of 13 people found this review helpful.
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The ship is to big by
A Traveler from battletown, ky Sailing date: Apr 2012Pros: Ship was beautiful Cons: Way to crowded they added to many rooms and not enough public spaces. You couldn't get a chair on lido. You had to show up 30-45 minutes before a show to get a seat and I still missed the comedy shows because they were full and locked the doors. I will go back to smaller ships. I loved the Valor. Ship Quality
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Entertainment & ActivitiesWhat I got to see of it. Children's Programs
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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My 10th Cruise by
A Traveler from Texas Sailing date: Feb 2012Pros: The Food Cons: Too many people for the size of the common areas. If you like constant crowds, you will love this ship. It seems that the huge size of the ship is in additional berths and not in the public areas. Good for Carnival but not so good for Carnival's customers.
Your time dining was a negative for us but a reserved early dining table was not available even though we were not late in making our tour reservations. Ship QualityToo big. Too many people. Always crowded. Dining/FoodI would have much preferred a reserved table to a Your Time table. You end up lining up even earlier to try and get a good table. The food was excellent. Stateroom Quality
Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & ActivitiesThe shows were great but fewer than most ships. Children's Programs400 kids on the ship but you seldom saw them. Programs must be good. 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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